Poway council approves new Lowe’s store
By Steve Dreyer
Plans by the Lowe’s home improvement chain to build a store on the north side of Poway Road were unanimously approved Tuesday night by the Poway City Council.
A company representative said the new store could be open by late next year.
The 121,000-square-foot store, a 31,658-square-foot garden center and a 4,500-square-foot separate business pad will be built on 11 acres on the north side of Poway Road where Toyota of Poway and a vacant former Chevrolet dealership now stand.
Following about 45 minutes of public comment the council adopted a “mitigated negative declaration” on the Lowe’s project, concluding that while there may be some impacts on the environment, solutions can be enacted to mitigate them. Areas identified in the report include traffic, noise, biological resources and cultural resources.
As to traffic, the report estimates that a Lowe’s store will generate 4,024 average daily trips (ADTs) on weekdays and 8,046 ADTs on Saturdays. No Sunday estimates are listed. An ADT represent one to-and-from trip to the store.
Proposed mitigation measures include construction of a traffic light at Poway Road and Gate Drive, modification of the existing signal at Poway and Community roads and remarking the intersection to add a westbound right-turn lane. A raised median on Poway Road is proposed to prevent “non-signalized access” to the site from eastbound Poway Road. The existing left-turn pocket on eastbound Poway Road will be extended as well.
To contain noise, the report recommends construction of walls along the east, north, and a portion of the west property lines. Doing so should reduce noise levels to meet city standards that require maximum of 55 dBA in the daytime and 52.5 dBA at night. An existing wall along the east property line will be upgraded.
The proposed store’s design features an “Agrarian” style that complies with standards outlined in the Poway Road Specific Plan.
In order for the Lowe’s project to proceed, the Toyota dealership’s plans to move across the street must be approved by the council. A public hearing and possible decision on that has been tentatively scheduled for the Oct. 4 council meeting.
On Aug. 20 the council voted 4-1 to approve plans by Walmart to expand its existing store on Community Road. That project’s environmental impact report was delayed for several months after Lowe’s submitted its plans, so that projected traffic added to Poway Road by Lowe’s could be incorporated into the Walmart study.
